Australian man's warning to tourists after losing $200k in elaborate Bali scam
A Perth man has given a harrowing warning to travellers planning a holiday to Bali after a scam cost him his lifesavings on the holiday island.
Joe, 66, from Baldivis, lost $200,000 after getting trapped in a card game gambling scam in October 2017, shattering his retirement plans.
"I've lost my whole superannuation for my retirement," he told Today Tonight.
Bali, a popular tourist destination for Australians, has become rife with locals looking to capitalise on its rise in popularity with criminal gangs waiting to prey on unwary tourists and fleece them of their money.
"I've worked since I was 15 and it's all gone. All my retirement's all gone. What am I going to do now?"
Despite having been to Bali more than a dozen times, Joe fell victim to an elaborate scam involving a game of cards he says anyone could fall for.
Joe, who wishes to give only his forename, says the con all began after striking up a conversation about his hometown with a woman in a shopping centre.
"She asked me 'where do you come from?' I said from Perth and she said 'oh yeah do you know Royal Perth Hospital?'" he said.
From that conversation a friendship was struck up and Joe agreed to visit the woman's family to tell them about Perth.
In the house a friendly game of cards began, and a family member who claimed to work on a casino ship with "inside knowledge of poker" decided to teach Joe how to play.
"Next thing this guy comes in, an old bloke who had black hair parted down the middle, glasses he looked like a very rich man and he said he was from Borneo dealing with gas and oil diamonds and gold."
Joe says the man then proposed a cash game of poker to the players, but he was reluctant to join. He was eventually convinced and matched the man's $200 he'd put in.
"We started to play the game and I kept on winning so the guy first pulled out, I only had $200, I put the $200 down and the guy pulls out. $2000 I said 'oh hang on a minute'" he recalled.
As the stakes grew Joe was convinced by the family he'd befriended to keep playing. They helped him put up the money and soon enough his $200 had turned into tens of thousands.
Joe says despite having the option to walk away at any time, he carried on in a bid to financially help the woman's family he'd originally befriended.
"I was just thinking about these young people the young guy and his sister. What an opportunity for them to make some money because Bali there's not very many opportunities," he said.
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The stakes rose to $50,000 and Joe couldn't believe his luck when he was dealt a winning hand. All he needed to do was match the bet.
To raise the money, Joe was convinced to return to Perth to get the $50,000 surety for the bet. A little more than a week later he was back in Bali with the cash.
Over the following few months the scam got deeper and the grandfather was convinced to put up more and more money so he could finally collect the elusive winnings.
The scam turned into an international game of cat and mouse as Joe flew to Bali then Johor in Malaysia and finally Manila in the Philippines.
“They took me somewhere, I wouldn't have a clue where it was, it was a Kentucky Fried Chicken place and it had chairs and tables outside and they said ‘we'll stop here have a drink’,” he said.
“We had a drink, a talk about how things were going. It was just a general talk which I thought ‘these people are genuine’, but they did ask for the money.”
That amount, by this stage was $200,000. He handed over the cash and the two friends got up to go to the toilet, leaving their belongings and Joe at the table.
They never returned.
"It just made me feel sick and then everything went into my mind stupid. You worked hard all your life and it's all gone in five minutes," he said.
Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection Penny Lipscombe told The West Australian it has been many years since reports of the scam have been received, but it appears the scammers are back in business.
“The scenario in this case is identical to the previous reports we have received. Victims are duped into believing that they have a winning hand and it’s impossible to lose so this entices them to invest more of their money into the game,” she said.
“We strongly advise anyone going overseas not to get involved in these games as tempting as the proposition may be at the time. The perpetrators are professional criminals so won’t take no for an answer and put enormous pressure on their victims to take part.”
